Eye Cancer

Our Approach

At MD Anderson's Eye Clinic, your care for eye cancer is tailored specifically for you by highly skilled and renowned experts. They work together in teams, communicating and collaborating at every step, to be sure you receive the most advanced therapies with the least impact on your body.

Most cancers affecting the eye and orbital area are rare and require treatment at centers familiar with the best treatment and diagnosis options. Because our eye cancer program is one of the nation’s most active, we have a remarkable level of experience and expertise.

Our ophthalmologists have special training in surgical and medical treatment of cancers of the eye, eyelid, orbit, conjunctiva, lacrimal gland and structures around the eye. They work closely with their colleagues in radiation oncology, medical oncology, pathology, plastic surgery, and head and neck surgery to deliver the best personalized care and outcomes. Our doctors take pride in treating ocular and orbital cancers, while making every effort to preserve ocular function and vision.

Personalized Care, Advanced Research

MD Anderson's ophthalmologists customize your treatment to include the latest technology and methods to treat eye cancer, which may include:

Surgery

Radiation therapy including proton therapy

Targeted therapies

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (a new method that finds early metastatic disease from eye cancer to the lymph nodes)

The latest ophthalmic reconstructive procedures to preserve function and appearance in the eye and facial area

If surgery is needed, it is done by some of the nation’s top ophthalmic surgeons and highly specialized eye reconstructive surgeons. And we are constantly researching new ways to diagnose and treat eye cancer. This means we are able to offer clinical trials of new therapies.

Treatment at MD Anderson

Eye Cancer Facts

Cancer can develop in several structures in the eye area. These include:

Eyeball: The structures inside the eye where cancer can develop include the choroid, ciliary body, iris and retina.

The uvea, the middle layer of the eyeball, contains the:

Iris: The colored part of the eye. The pupil, a small opening the lets light come into the eyeball, is in the middle of the iris

Choroid: Thin layer around the eyeball that provides the eye with blood

Ciliary body: Made up of muscles inside eye that help it focus and cells where aqueous humor (clear liquid in front of eye) begins

Retina: The layer of cells in the back of the eye. The retina is connected by the optic nerve to the brain. Its cells are sensitive to light and help us see images. When light comes into the eye, it passes through the lens. This makes an image on the retina, which is then sent by the optic nerve to the brain.

Orbit: The space around and behind the eye has bony walls and contains important nerves, including the optic nerve, and muscles that move the eye.

Eyelid: Tumors that affect eyelids can be on the skin of the eyelid or on the inside layer of the eyelid (tarsus and conjunctiva).

Conjunctiva: Surface covering of the eye that also covers the inside of the eyelid

Lacrimal Gland: The gland, which makes tears, is in the upper outer quadrant of the orbit.

Lacrimal Sac/Duct: This structure, which drains the tears, is in the inner lower quadrant of the orbit near the nose.